Abuse of women in and out of Parliament

Jan 30, 2024 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Last week as part of the news cycle were reports of government ministers hurling insults at female opposition Members of Parliament during the budget debates.

This has become a known feature of behaviour by our law makers over the years and although it is utterly repugnant to hear a woman being called a stripper in the August House, the conduct of the two identified ministers who allegedly committed the act is not surprising to many. The opposition also is not above reproach on this matter, for many times our reporters told of the nastiness that passes for heckling during the parliamentary sittings.

The Speaker, Manzoor Nadir has been criticised for not doing much to curb the excesses, but we believe he too has probably become so disgusted with both sides of the house that he has given in to resignation. What was also worrying is the fact that during the course of the debates last week the assembly invited students from the various schools to observe the proceedings.

There was a time when adults, particularly those in public and influential offices, took great care as to how they were perceived by society. Children ensured that they did not disgrace the family or do anything that would cause their parents to see them in a less than positive light. When these values are no longer considered sacred or are being discarded, condemnation of any untoward behaviour of the younger generation becomes hypocritical. It is often said children learn what they see and model themselves after their seniors, but what has been seen in Parliament is nothing to model. The insults, especially given that they were aimed at women MPs also behoove us to again at the situation regarding violence against women.

The fact that there is discussion about eliminating violence against women means that it more than exists. Beyond any doubt, violence against women is a frightening phenomenon, a settled culture, in Guyana. The evidence is in media reports, official numbers, whispers that are never heard. Thankfully, violence against women locally is not one of those issues that has been torn apart by the push and pull of politics. It is not what could be defended, nor what could be dressed up and peddled for some meaningless advantage. It is undeniable that women in Guyana are being felled by the scourge of violence, probably at harrowing proportions.

Though Guyanese should be numbed by now at the grim toll of violence against women here, they are not. Because each new report of episodic violence still provokes dismay at the trail of wreckage, and the wounding afflictions heaped on other brutalised women, and families left to pick up the pieces as they grieve. The women wonder when their day of doom would come, when their haunting fears would materialize unmanageably. The families of those who have lost a mother, a sister, a daughter, a mentor, and a comforter wonder how they will cope, when the beacon and strength in their lives are gone forever.

Instead of progress being registered in the march towards the elimination of violence against women, the sad reality is that it is the women who are being eliminated one at a time, and too many of them. Some shaky progress has been made in the fight against violence meted out to women. But more is needed to challenge and override the culture that views women as sitting ducks, hence inviting targets. Leaders at the national level have to be prime examples of the way women must be treated. When they practice high standards by word and attitude and deed, then the bar is raised on all Guyanese men and women, about what is acceptable, and what should be condemned and resisted. The road is uphill, but it has to be traveled if some progress is to be recorded in the elimination of violence against women in Guyana. Men must hold men accountable, and women must be right there. Stop the violence is a two-way street, and it involves a revolutionary change of mind in this country.

abuse, Editorial, Government, Ministers, Parliament

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Abuse of women in and out of Parliament

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